Marine Corps Marksmanship Badges: Scores, Requalification, and Wear

The Marine Corps marksmanship badges are the three tiered awards — Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expert — that every qualifying Marine wears to show how well they shot on their most recent annual qualification. Separate badges exist for the rifle and the pistol, and the level you rate depends entirely on your score. Shoot better next year and you move up. Shoot worse and you move down.

What Each Badge Looks Like

All three badges are struck in the same dull silver-colored metal. What tells them apart is the design below the rectangular holding bar. The Marksman badge is just the bar. The Sharpshooter adds a cross beneath it. The Expert badge, the one every Marine wants, shows crossed rifles for rifle qualification or crossed pistols for pistol qualification below the bar.

When a Marine re-qualifies at the Expert level, a requalification bar attaches to the top of the badge. Only one requalification bar is worn at a time, so the badge never becomes a stack of metal. The single bar simply says the Marine has earned Expert more than once.

Rifle Qualification Scores

The Annual Rifle Qualification tests accuracy from 500 yards down to close-range engagements at 15 to 25 yards. The current course scores by “destroys” rather than by point totals: a target counts as destroyed when at least one round hits a designated vital zone on the silhouette. Marines fire their assigned individual weapon, whether that’s the M4 carbine, M16, or M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle.¹

Classification depends on two things: the number of targets destroyed and successful completion of drills. A drill typically requires specific hit combinations, such as two rounds to the chest and one to the head across multiple targets, inside a tight time limit. The thresholds break down like this:²

Expert: 42 to 50 destroys, plus successful completion of multiple drill types.
Sharpshooter: 35 to 41 destroys, plus at least one successful drill.
Marksman: 25 to 34 destroys, plus at least one successful drill of any type.
Unqualified: fewer than 25 destroys, or failure to complete at least one drill.

A perfect score is 50 destroys. Expert is a genuinely difficult standard: hitting vital zones on at least 84 percent of presented targets while also demonstrating proficiency across multiple close-range drill types.

Pistol Qualification Scores

Not every Marine shoots the pistol course. Pistol qualification is required for officers, staff noncommissioned officers, and certain Military Occupational Specialties that carry a sidearm, but it’s not universal the way rifle qualification is.³ Marines promoted to staff sergeant must complete their initial pistol qualification within two years of promotion.⁴

The Combat Pistol Program evaluates shooters at 7, 15, and 25 yards, emphasizing drawing from a holster and engaging targets within strict time limits. Authorized service pistols include the M9, M9A1, M45A1, M18, and the Glock 19 (M007).¹ Unlike the rifle course, pistol scoring uses shot placement within the rings of a silhouette target, with a maximum of 400 points. The classification cutoffs are:⁵

Expert: 364 to 400 points.
Sharpshooter: 324 to 363 points.
Marksman: 264 to 323 points.
Unqualified: below 264 points.

Pistol Expert asks for over 90 percent of the maximum while drawing from a holster against a clock. The distances are close, but speed and shot discipline under time pressure trip up plenty of otherwise capable shooters.

Requalifying Every Year

Both rifle and pistol qualification run on a fiscal-year cycle for active-duty Marines. If you’re required to carry the weapon, you fire for score every year.⁴ Reserve component Marines follow the same annual rifle cycle but must complete pistol qualification within six months before a deployment.

The badge you wear reflects your most recent qualification. Shoot Expert one year and drop to Sharpshooter the next, and the Sharpshooter badge is what goes on the uniform. No prior classification carries forward. The badge represents current proficiency, not a lifetime achievement.

What Happens If You Fail

A Marine who doesn’t meet the minimum on qualification day gets at least one re-evaluation attempt that same day. If they passed part of the course but failed another portion, they only re-fire the failed section.⁶

Still can’t pass? The Marine has to return on a different detail during the same fiscal year and shoot the entire course from scratch. If they pass on that later attempt, they receive only the minimum passing score for record, regardless of how well they actually shot.

Until a Marine qualifies, they cannot wear a marksmanship badge for that weapon.⁶ All scores go into the Marine Corps Training Information Management System. For sergeants and above, the classification also appears on the fitness report, which puts poor performance in front of promotion boards. The order doesn’t spell out an automatic promotion block for failing to qualify, but “unqualified” on a fitness report in a service defined by marksmanship is not a career-neutral event.

Competition and Distinguished Badges

Above the standard qualification tiers sits a separate set of badges tied to competitive shooting. Marines who place in sanctioned Excellence in Competition matches earn credit points, awarded in gold, silver, and bronze tiers to the top 10 percent of finishers.⁷

Accumulate 30 EIC credit points and you become a Distinguished Rifleman or Distinguished Pistol Shot, with the corresponding badge for permanent wear.⁷ Reaching 30 points usually takes strong finishes at multiple matches over several years.

The Lauchheimer Trophy goes to the competitor with the highest aggregate score at the Marine Corps Championship Matches. The winner receives a gold badge, a Certificate of Commendation from the Commandant, and has their name engraved on the trophy displayed at the Weapons Training Battalion in Quantico. Second and third place earn silver and bronze badges.⁸

Where the Badges Go on the Uniform

Placement follows MCO 1020.34H. On service and dress uniforms (Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie variations), badges are centered above the left breast pocket, with the bottom edge of the lowest holding bar sitting one-eighth of an inch above the top edge of the pocket.⁹

When a Marine wears both a rifle and a pistol badge, the two go side by side. For men, the holding bars are symmetrically placed with about three-quarters of an inch between them and no more than four and a quarter inches total width. For women, the outermost edges align roughly with the pocket edges, with between one-quarter and one-half inch between the holding bars.⁹ Badges are arranged by seniority, with the higher-ranking badge in the inboard position closer to the center of the chest.

Not every uniform accepts marksmanship badges. They are prohibited on the Blue Dress “A” uniform, evening dress, the blue-white dress “A,” utility uniforms, and camouflage maternity work uniforms.⁹ On uniforms that display large medals, the badges would crowd the chest. On field uniforms, metal badges serve no purpose and can create glare.

1
United States Marine Corps. Fiscal Year 2021 Authorized Individual Weapons, Optics, Modular Attachments and Modifications for Annual Rifle and Pistol Training
2
Marine Corps Training Command. Annual Rifle Qualification Working Group
3
United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Combat Pistol Program
4
United States Marine Corps. MCO 1500.63 CH-1 – Marine Corps Mandatory Individual Training and Education Requirements
5
Marine Corps Training Command. CPP-14 Pistol Firing Table One Training Blocks Four and Five
6
United States Marine Corps. MCO 3574.2M – Marine Corps Combat Marksmanship Programs
7
United States Marine Corps. Excellence in Competition Credit for Action Shooting Matches
8
United States Marine Corps. MCO 3591.2L – Small Arms Marksmanship Competition
9
United States Marine Corps. MCO 1020.34H – Marine Corps Uniform Regulations